Free News January 19, 2007

Country Reports

Australia
FRDC Reports on Everfresh

Soaking shrimp in the blackspot inhibitor Everfresh (4-hexylresorcinol) is effective, inexpensive and produces less chemical residue than the standard quick dip treatment with sodium metabisulphite--according to research funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and Seafood Services Australia. FRDC says the recommended soak treatments also reduce chemical residue to a fraction of the most stringent international standards.

A 200-gram packet of Everfresh in 1,000 liters of water with 500 kilos of ice creates a 5-milligram-per-liter mix that effectively treats a ton of shrimp during a 24-hour period at a cost of A$1.7 cents a kilo, said principal investigator Steve Slattery of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.

Doubling the Everfresh dosage to 10 milligrams per liter will treat 475 kilos of shrimp with a six-hour soak at a cost of A$3.4 cents a kilo.

Reducing the batch size to 125 kilos and the soak period to two minutes requires a 50-milligram-per-liter mix at a cost of A$12.8 cents per kilo.

Information: Seafood Services Australia, Ltd. (phone 1300-130-321, webpage www.seafish.org).

Source: Fisheries R&D News (www.frdc.com.au, Australian Government). Soaking prawns has merit. Volume 14, Number 4, Page 14, November 2006.

Costa Rica
Ecology and Environment Sells Farm to Roozen Group

Ecology and Environment, Inc., sold its interest in Frutas Marinas Del Mar, S.R.L., a shrimp farm in Costa Rica, to the Roozen Group for $2,500,000 in cash. Ecology and Environment, Inc., acquired the farm in July 1999 and ceased operations in July 2003, when it put it up for sale.

Source: PRNewswire.com. Ecology and Environment, Inc., Completes Shrimp Farm Sale (http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-10-2007/0004503496&EDATE=). January 10, 2007.

India
Organic Shrimp

Chennai, Tamil Nadu (southeast coast)...On January 11, 2007, the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO) for aid in the certification and marketing of organic farmed shrimp.

The three-year project with SIPPO will help India enforce international certification standards--first in shrimp processing plants, then in farms and hatcheries.

MPEDA chairman G. Mohan Kumar said that SIPPO would also help with the marketing of organic shrimp to ensure that premium prices flow down to farmers. The project will initially be implemented in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, and then will expand to other states.

The government has revived a plan to develop disease-free shrimp stocks. It will invest $2.3 million in a biosecure zone in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Indian Ocean, 1,500 kilometers east of Chennai, close to southwestern Thailand), and another $2.3 million to ensure that 100 percent of India's shrimp production comes from clean broodstock by 2010.

Source: The Hindu. Tie-up with Swiss agency to market organic shrimp farming (http://www.hindu.com/2007/01/12/stories/2007011205260400.htm). January 12, 2007.

Indonesia
CP Prima Buys Shrimp Improvement Systems

Jakarta...Indonesia's PT Central Proteinaprima (CP Prima) has purchased Shrimp Improvement System, the largest broodstock breeding and producing company in the United States, for an undisclosed sum. CP Prime management said it wants to expand operations in the United States.

Source: Antara News. Indonesia's CP Prima acquires largest U.S. shrimp breeding Co (http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=26125). January 17, 2007.

Nicaragua
International Shrimp Culture Symposium and Trade Show

Dear friends: Welcome to the International Shrimp Culture Symposium and Trade Show to be held in León, Nicaragua, May 2-4, 2007. For information on the program, registration and accommodations, visit http://camaroncito032003@yahoo.com.

Information: Manuel Alzamora (phone 507-2367845, cell 507-66126919, email malzamora@gfce.org).

Source: The Shrimp List (a mailing list for shrimp farmers, "shrimp-subscribe@yahoogroups.com"). Subject: [shrimp] New Symposium in Nicaragua. From: camaroncito032003@yahoo.com. January 18, 2007.

Philippines
Vannamei

Manila...On January 8, 2007, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap announced the lifting of the ban on the importation of Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei). "We expect the introduction of P. vannamei...to boost our ailing shrimp industry and bring it back to its glory days when production reached a high of 94,000 metric tons in 1994," said Yap.

Roberto Gatuslao, president of the Philippine Shrimp Industry Association, said that production costs for white shrimp ($2.00 a kilo) were much lower than those for tiger shrimp ($4.30). He said farmers get about $7.00 a kilo for tigers and about $4.30 a kilo for white shrimp.

The Department of Agriculture said that industry leaders believe the lifting of the ban will help the Philippines regain its previous status as a global leader in shrimp production.

The Philippines gets its white shrimp broodstock from the USA. The Philippine Department of Agriculture through its Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) monitors the broodstock shipments to ensure that they are authentic and from accredited hatcheries.

BFAR estimates indicate that the entry of Pacific white shrimp into the country will raise earnings of shrimp farmers from last year's $82 million to $122 million in 2007, with production projected at four metric tons per hectare for a total of 20,520 metric tons.

In 2006, the industry generated $61 million in exports and $20 million in domestic sales.

Sources: 1. The Visayan Daily Star. Entry of white shrimps to increase production (http://www.visayandailystar.com/2007/January/12/businessnews2.htm). January 12, 2007. 2. Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service). Philippines lifts ban on import and culture of vannamei shrimp. Ken Coons. Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com). January 8, 2007.

United States
California--Ask Dallas--The Shrimp List

Dr. James Wyban (wyban@gte.net): We are starting a zero exchange, intensive shrimp culture trial. We will use 50% protein feed plus molasses to achieve a 15:1 carbon:nitrogen ratio. Can anyone provide the exact proportion of these two items to reach a 15:1, C:N ratio? Information: James Wyban, Ph.D., High Health Aquaculture, Inc., P.O. Box 1095 Kurtistown, HI 96760 USA (phone 808-982-9163, fax 808-982-9163, email wyban@gte.net, webpages www.hihealthshrimp.com and www.spfgenetics.com).

Dr. Dallas Weaver (deweaver@surfcity.net): You can't achieve a steady C:N ratio. A high amount of refractory carbon won't control the ammonia concentration and towards the end of a cycle the ratio of liable/refractory carbon (stuff bacteria can eat and grow on with high efficiency and yield relative to organics that have low biomass yield coefficients or slow growth kinetics) increases, which means that you would have a higher system C:N ratio at the end than at the start of a cycle (assuming no water exchange or suspended solids removal during the cycle).

The C:N ratio of the feed also depends upon the details of the microbiology of the flock. High sludge ages will often give more nitrification to nitrate and nitrite and more denitrification, requiring less carbon but also having lower biomass yield and forcing a lot of ammonia via the bacteria---> protozoan---> waste ammonia---> more carbon---> bacteria biomass type loops (which increase the carbon requirement).

I always used ammonia concentrations in a feedback system to determine the rate of organic carbon addition. If you further control the pH to a specified maximum range, you can use the ammonia concentration as the control point that will give you an acceptable unionized ammonia concentration for your animals. If the ammonia goes up, increase the carbohydrate addition rate. I like to keep ammonia in the .5 to 1 ppm range (TAN) which is fast, easy and cheap to measure, and I use at least one measurement per day as the determinant of the feed ratio of C:N.

With the above scheme, ammonia is the controlling nutrient, but don't let P, K or Fe or trace elements become limiting nutrients. I recommend measuring P and Fe to make sure they aren't limiting. In some real wild systems, I have even seen some trace metals become limiting. Remember, you are growing several kilograms of bio-floc biomass per kilogram of shrimp and the bio-floc determines the oxygen demand for the system and circulation patterns can create significant anaerobic deposits (that gets us back to the iron discussion). Information: Dallas E. Weaver, Ph.D., Scientific Hatcheries, 8152 Evelyn Circle, Huntington Beach, CA 92646 USA (phone 714-960-4171, cell 714-614-3925, email deweaver@surfcity.net, webpage www.ScientificHatcheries.com).

Sources: 1. The Shrimp List (a mailing list for shrimp farmers, "shrimp-subscribe@yahoogroups.com"). Subject: [shrimp] C:N ratios. From: wyban@hawaiiantel.net. January 11, 2007. 2. The Shrimp List. Subject: Re: {Disarmed} [shrimp] C:N ratios. From: deweaver@surfcity.net. January 12, 2007.

United States
California--Shrimp News--Filler for WSF 2007

Writer Ray Blackston, author of Pagan's Nightmare and Lost in Rooville: A Novel, observed this situation in a restaurant:

A man and woman sit at a table in an upscale restaurant. They each have a cell phone to their ear.

All night she had avoided eye contact with her boyfriend. She reached for the appetizer--coconut-glazed shrimp--but hesitated. She eyed the shrimp with suspicion. "Honey," she said, with a bat of her lashes, "Were these shrimp grown on a shrimp farm, or did they die a tortuous death in some fisherman's net?"

He gulped three of the morsels and shrugged. "Who cares? And since when do you sympathize about the particulars of a shrimp's life?"

Summoning courage, she wiped her mouth and blurted, "Since I met Jacques, the French environmentalist."

And with that she stood and bolted out of the restaurant.

Source: Kelly Klepfer's Blog. Scrambled Dregs. Friday, January 12, 2007. Serials and Scenarios/A Peek into the Mind of Ray Blackston (http://kellyklepfer.blogspot.com/2007/01/serials-and-scenarios-peek-into-mind.html). January 12, 2007.

United States
Mississippi--Patented Shrimp Traps

Don Rainey, a former shrimp fisherman, has designed, developed and patented three shrimp traps: The Ocean Harvester, which catches up to a barrel of shrimp; The Bay Harvester, which catches 15-to-20 pounds; and The Bay Trap, which catches 5-to-6 pounds--all without any bait or bycatch. A small battery-operated light draws a variety of marine life into the trap, and the shrimp follow them in for a free meal. The mesh can be adjusted to capture large shrimp only.

"The reason they work are the lights," Rainey said. "Light attracts plankton and plankton attracts shrimp. If you put the traps where the shrimp are, the shrimp will go into them. The Bay Trap can be used by fishermen who want to catch live bait. All they have to do is place the traps in the water for 30 minutes or so and they will have all the bait they need."

Although the traps are complete, they are not available for purchase. Rainey's dream could end if investors are not located to help him put the traps on the market.

Information: Don Rainey, 871 Tee Street, Biloxi, MS 39532 USA (phone 228-388-7722).

Source: SunHerald.com. Safer Way To Catch Shrimp (http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/sports/16402326.htm). Al Jones (afjones@sunherald.com). January 8, 2007.

United States
Missouri--Shrimp Farming

Four years ago, Bill Crites, 37, looked at his muddy backyard and thought it would be a nice place to grow shrimp. Now he has four, 2.33-acre ponds from which he harvests 2,200 pounds of Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) a year. He sells them to private customers and through his newly opened convenience store. "It's worked well, and I think eventually it will be profitable," he said.

But don't get into the business thinking it's simple, warns Crites, "I put a lot of money into it early on." His initial investment included $5,000 to dig the ponds, $3,500 to dig a well, $800 for a drainage system, $2,500 for an aeration system, $1,300 for the shrimp nursery and $700 for the first 100,000 shrimp. That doesn't include the tractor-load of salt he dumps into his ponds each year to maintain suitable salinity levels.

He buys his seedstock in late May, holds them indoors for several weeks, slowly lowering the salinity, and then puts them in the ponds in June. He harvests in September, and then stocks the ponds with trout for the winter months.

Information: Gerald Bryan, Mississippi University Extension (phone 573-547-4504).

Source: seMissourian.com. Shrimp harvest shows possibilities of aquaculture (http://www.semissourian.com/story/1184139.html). T.J. Greaney (phone 573-335-6611, extension 245, email tgreaney@semissourian.com). January 8, 2007.

United States
South Carolina--Waddell Mariculture Center

Information: Alvin Stokes, Waddell Mariculture Center, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, P.O. Box 809, Bluffton, SC 29910 USA (phone 843-837-3795, fax 843-837-3487, email stokesa@mrd.dnr.state.sc.us).

Information: Craig L. Browdy, Marine Resources Research Institute, 217 Ft. Johnson Rd., Charleston SC 29422 USA (phone 843-953-9840, fax 843-953-9820 email browdycl@musc.edu).

Sources: 1. IslandPacket.com. Marine research facility to resume public tours starting Feb 5 (http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/6321738p-5511034c.html). Peter Frost (phone 843-706-8169, email pfrost@islandpacket.com). January 13, 2007. 2. Email from Alvin Stokes on January 16, 2007.

United States
Texas--"Aquaculture 2007"--Trade Show Exhibitors

For a list of the trade show exhibitors and their products at "Aquaculture 2007", click here.

United States
Washington State--ACC

The Aquaculture Certification Council, Inc., continues to expand its Best Aquaculture Practices (BAPs) certification program. Through early October 2006, 50 processing plants, 26 farms and 17 hatcheries had been certified.

About 80% of the certified processing plants are in Southeast Asia, a region that currently supplies approximately two-thirds of the farmed shrimp imported by the United States. Thirty-two of the 50 processing plants are in Thailand and India. ACC has certified 12 farms in Ecuador, and six groups in the Western Hemisphere have hatchery, farm and processing certificates. A list of all certified facilities can be found on the ACC website: www.aquaculturecertification.org/accfaci.html.

The newest holder of three ACC certificates is the C.I. Cartagenera Shrimp Group in Colombia, which includes the Zeus Investments processing plant, the C.I. Cartagenera de Acuacultura farm and the C.I. Cartagenera de Acuacultura Tigua hatchery. The Cartagenera Group boasts over 1,000 hectares of farm area and has a modern processing plant that produces a variety of value-added items under the Cartagua brand.

Information: William R. More, Aquaculture Certification Council, Inc., 12815 72nd Avenue NE, Kirkland, WA 98034 USA (phone 425-825-7935, fax 425-650-3001, cell 206-321-0795, email wrmore@comcast.net, website www.aquaculturecertification.org).

Source: The Global Aquaculture Advocate (http://www.gaalliance.org). Editor, Darryl Jory (dejry2525@aol.com). Aquaculture Certification News. Volume 9, Issue 6, Page 12, November/December 2006.

Yemen
Shrimp Farm for Hodeida

The Government of Yeman plans to create a shrimp farm on the Red Sea near Hodeida (also spelled "Al Hudaydah" and "Hodeidah") with an annual capacity of 1,000 tons.

Source: Yemen Times. Business In Brief/Kuwait interested in fish farming in Yemen (http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1015&p=business&a=3). January 11, 2007.

Harvest Data at the Waddell Mariculture Center
Stocking Rate/m2	Size Grams	Harvest Grams	Production Kg/m2	Growout Days	Survival %	FCR
300	1.00	16.6	4.5	75	91	1.5
420	0.01	21.3	6.8	113	80	1.9
450	1.00	25.6	6.3	123	54	2.6
500	4.00	16.4	6.7	59	84	1.5
370	2.40	21.5	5.4	139	74	2.4